More thoughts on Comcast SportsNet Houston, Friday’s roundup

Owing to the limited space in the print edition and the considerably larger vistas of the online landscape, here’s a full version of Friday’s television-radio roundup:

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One of the things I hear from old-time Home Sports Entertainment hands is their desire for a Houston network that would replicate HSE’s local emphasis of the mid-1980s, before the network began its steady migration toward a Dallas-Fort Worth-oriented world.

Matt Hutchings, who was part of the early HSE crowd, repeated that mantra this week at the Pavilions, site of Comcast SportsNet Houston’s 32,000-square-foot, $16 million studio complex.

Hutchings used all the buzzwords – “going back to our roots” and “a boots on the ground approach … by professionals who live in the Houston area” – in describing his plans for CSN Houston, which will air Rockets games beginning this fall and Astros games in 2013.

Even with Wednesday’s announcement, a lot remains to be done before October, when the network signs on. Hutchings said the NBC Sports Group will employ about 125 people here; logic dictates that a good number will come from the current Fox Sports Houston roster as the network winds down its deals with the Rockets and Astros, but the new channel also figures, based on other Comcast SportsNet operations around the country, to have a larger digital presence than has Fox.

Hutchings has yet to hire an executive producer for the network or a top editor for the website, and the network’s programming schedule around Rockets and Astros games remain a work in progress. (The network’s name could change, too, in the wake of the Comcast/NBC merger, although a network spokesman said no decision has been made on that front.)

Comcast subscribers, however, can get an early feel for what CSN Houston will look like by checking out CSN Bay Area, CSN New England and SNY, which are available at channels 134 through 136 as part of the Xfinity sports and entertainment package.

All have daily pregame and postgame shows plus an afternoon news show and some element of sports talk, be it a simulcast of the local CBS Radio station (New England) or from locally produced shows. SNY carries University of Connecticut sports, and Bay Area had some Pac-12 women’s basketball this week and New England had some Atlantic 10 games. SNY also has a game show called Beer Money, and affiliates occasionally have local documentaries, such as Bay Area’s film on the late major league player Glen Burke last year.

Programming is the most intriguing question on my mind, but most fans (other than Comcast subscribers) likely are most concerned with carriage issues: Hutchings said the most frequent question he gets from callers is “Can I get your network on my satellite or cable carrier?”

Hutchings, who launched the Altitude network in Denver opposite a FSN regional, said he expects nothing less in Houston than he was able to accomplish in Denver, which he said was full distribution at launch. That may be a tough sell in Texas and the surrounding five-state region, especially since CSN Houston will launch with the Rockets, whose game availability outside the Houston area is limited by NBA regulations, rather than the Astros, but he’s optimistic.

“We will work as hard as we can with distributors in our region,” he said. “It is our belief that fans are going to continue to want to watch their teams and that they will want to see the programs and hear about the information behind the teams. We will ride with the Astros and Rockets, and we will create programming for the region that will be important for viewers.”

Astros president George Postolos, who as Rockets president in the early 2000s envisioned and helped forge the Astros-Rockets alliance that produced CSN Houston, said Wednesday that “the adventure continues.” It’s an adventure that will be critical not just for the teams but for fans as Hutchings takes his case to DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-verse and to regional cable carriers like Suddenlink and Time Warner.

Mike & Mike return to SHO

ESPN Radio hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic will return to the Shell Houston Open on March 28 for their fourth annual appearance at the tournament’s pro-am after broadcasting their morning show, which airs locally on KFNC (97.5 FM).

Greenberg, the golfing member of the duo, and Golic, the comic relief, also will appear at a Shell-sponsored event and will accept a contribution to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The tournament begins March 29 at Redstone Golf Club and airs once again on the Golf Channel and NBC.

CBS Sports Network precedes the selections with a 3 p.m. Sunday show plus a post-selection show at 7 p.m. The cable net also airs a series of four 30-minute shows on the 16 greatest teams in college basketball history at 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, March 18-19. …

New this year, meanwhile, is the NCAA March Madness Live mobile applications for Apple and Android devices. The cost is $3.99. NCAA and Turner also will stream NCAA Tournament games on their websites, but you have to be an authenticated cable customer to gain access.

Four DVRs, no waiting

While Tim Melton recovers, KTRK (Channel 13) has hired KGOW (1560 AM) and Yahoo! Sports Radio host David Nuno as a fill-in. Nuno worked in TV in Waco and Bryan-College Station before coming to Houston. … KHOU (Channel 11) sports anchor Matt Musil will host a new show called Matt’s Saturday Sports Blast at the end of 11’s 8 a.m. Saturday newscast. …

FSN Houston will air the UIL Class 5A boys basketball title game at 8:30 p.m. Saturday on its Fox Sports Plus channel in Houston, where it conflicts with a Rockets game on the main channel. Other title games will be streamed at FoxSportsHouston.com. If Yates advances to the 4A title game, its title game Saturday will air on KCOH (1430 AM) with Nick Strong and Steve Robinson on the call. …

Earvin “Magic” Johnson narrates his own story in The Announcement, the ESPN Films documentary on Johnson’s 1991 announcement that he was HIV-positive, at 8 p.m. Sunday. If you remember the furor associated with Johnson’s brief efforts to play after his diagnosis, you’ll be surprised by who gets the last word in the film and what he has to say. …

KILT (610 AM) raised $4,000 for the Be an Angel charity this week at the Improv, where Marc Vandermeer paid off a bet by doing 10 minutes of standup and Josh Innes had his body shaved after losing a bet regarding the Texans’ defense. …

Lots of NFL Network attention this week for former Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill, although former Texans GM Charley Casserly says he hasn’t seen “special” throws from Tannehill. Still, it represents a milestone for Texas football when Andrew Luck (Houston Stratford), Robert Griffin III (Copperas Cove) and Tannehill (Big Spring) are the three top QB prospects in the NFL Draft. …

Speaking of which, NFL Network says 6.5 million viewers watched its NFL scouting combine coverage, down 400,000 from last year. … ESPN says it averaged 1.06 million households for 130 college basketball games this season, up 1 percent from last year. …

How powerful is KTCK, Dallas-Fort Worth’s sports talk blowtorch? The station moved to a new studio in January and neglected to connect its Arbitron PPM encoder for five days but still handily beat its two sports radio challengers in the January ratings book, according to The Dallas Morning News. …

Houston viewers weren’t overly impressed with the Daytona 500 or NBA All-Star Game. The All-Star Game had a 5.4 major-market Nielsen rating on TNT; In Houston, the game averaged 4.6, 27th among the 56 majors.

Fox’s Daytona 500 broadcast averaged an 8.0 household rating with an average audience of 13.7 million viewers and 36.5 million total viewers, the best since 37 million for the 2006 race on NBC. In Houston, the race rated 4.0 on KRIV (Channel 26), which ranked 52nd. …

ESPNU at 9:30 a.m. Sunday recalls the 1992 Duke-Kentucky overtime thriller in The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky. Guests include Christian Laettner, Jamal Mashburn and John Pelphrey. …

It’s all show biz: Titans safety Jordan Babineaux from Port Arthur will be among 20 current and former NFL players who will take part of the NFL’s first Pro Hollywood Boot Camp in April.

Steve Davis, a soccer nut of long standing dating back to his years with The Dallas Morning News, has joined NBC Sports as lead writer for its ProSoccerTalk online column and as an occasional contributor to NBC SportsTalk on the NBC Sports Network. …

As Olympics junkies gear up for the upcoming national team trials, including Saturday’s taekwondo trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., featuring the Lopez siblings and Nia Abdallah from the Houston area, WGBH in Boston has launched a digital product called Medal Quest: American Athletes and the Paralympic Games at pbs.org/medalquest. …